Final Johnson County vote count: School board race flips to moderate, others unchanged
With all votes counted ahead of Tuesday’s canvass, an Olathe school board race has flipped from election night by a narrow margin.
Jennifer Gilmore, who ran as one of three conservatives in the Olathe school board race, opposing mask mandates and critical race theory, had the lead Tuesday night. She was ahead of challenger Julie Steele, who considers herself a moderate, by only 32 votes.
But as more mail-in ballots were counted throughout the week, Steele took the lead in the contest for the open board seat. And with unofficial final results reported on Friday, Steele was ahead with 50.1%, to Gilmore’s 49.8%. Steele leads by 63 votes.
“Watching this democratic process proceed exactly as it should is inspiring and I continue to be incredibly proud to be a part of it. Thank you to all those who have worked tirelessly for my campaign and continue to support the belief that now is the time for us to be looking forward, together,” Steele, a former special education and early childhood teacher in Olathe schools, said in a news release on Thursday.
In a tight race for an open school board seat in Blue Valley, conservative candidate Jim McMullen maintained his lead over Lindsay Weiss, a moderate Republican, on Friday, by only 48 votes.
Kansas law allows mail ballots postmarked on Election Day to be counted through Friday. The Johnson County election office will hold a canvass on Tuesday to certify the results.
There’s a chance results could still change as provisional ballots cast on Election Day are reviewed during the canvass.
There are no automatic recounts in Kansas. Spokesman Nathan Carter said after the canvass, a candidate could request a recount.
There’s no margin required for a candidate to request a recount. The candidate must submit a request in writing and post a bond covering the costs incurred by the county, he said.
The school board races have been the most critical in Johnson County this fall, when months of debates over COVID-19 policies and diversity initiatives inspired several conservative candidates to run in the nonpartisan elections.
In Olathe, Gilmore’s race became especially important after two other conservative newcomers appeared to defeat incumbents on election night.
As of Friday, newcomer Robert Kuhn had the lead, with 55.1%, over incumbent Kristin Schultz, with 44.4%. And Brian Connell, with 53.5%, led over incumbent Brian Geary, with 46%. A win from Gilmore could have given conservative board members enough votes to potentially, more easily, push through parts of their agendas.
Along with McMullen’s race in Blue Valley, one other candidate who ran as part of a slate of conservatives, newcomer Kaety Bowers, maintained her election night lead. She had 52.5% on Friday, ahead of Andrew Van Der Laan, with 47.2%.
Moderate Democrat Gina Knapp was ahead of opponent Christine White, a pediatrician, who had previously dropped out of the race after receiving backlash over her stance opposing school mask mandates. Knapp on Friday had 53.4%, over White’s 46.2%.
Some municipal races also had been too close to call this past week.
In a contest for an open Overland Park City Council seat, Sam Passer on Friday maintained his narrow lead over opponent Sheila Rodriguez. They competed to represent the 5th Ward, in the east-central part of the city, south of Interstate 435 and east of Antioch Road.
Passer had a 27-vote lead on Wednesday, but that grew to 41 Thursday, and remained unchanged on Friday.
Passer had 50.2% of the vote over Rodriguez, with 49.5%. Passer was more favorable of tax incentives given to developers — a major talking point leading up to the election — while Rodriguez has said she would push back against an “overabundance of new commercial development.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 4:29 PM.
